Zettie and her Mama left their warm and comfortable home in Jamaica for an uncertain life in the United Sates. With Papa gone, Mama can't find a steady job that will sustain them and so they are forced to live in their car. But Mama's unwavering love, support, and gutsy determination give Zettie the confidence that, together, she and her mother can meet all challenges.
Monica Gunning's moving and authentic story about homelessness in an American city was developed with the help of the Homeless Children’s Network in San Francisco. Elaine Pedlar's strong and lively illustrations bring the story to life in vibrant chalk pastel.
Monica Gunning was born in Jamaica, West Indies, and immigrated to the United States to work and further her education. After graduating, she became a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The author of critically acclaimed poetry books for children, she has also published extensively in magazines and anthologies. She lives in Laguna Niguel, California.
Elaine Pedlar was born in Queens, New York, the youngest girl of seven children. She graduated from Parsons School of Design in 1987 and, since then, has been a fashion designer. Single and living in a loft in Brooklyn, she has nine nieces and nephews that she loves dearly. This is her first book for children.
- Honorable Mention in the 2004 Myers Outstanding Book Awards
- 2005 Skipping Stones Honor Award
"Not since Maurice Sendak's We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy (HarperCollins, 1993) has a picture book dealing with homelessness maintained such emotional intensity. The illustrations call to mind images by Georges Rouault. Pedlar's figures are defined with thick black lines; exaggerated features and the expressionistic use of color accentuate the family's suffering. . . Children will be moved by Zettie's plight and relieved that there are options." — School Library Journal
“The text is sufficiently rooted in specifics to make this an accessible story and not just an examination of a social problem. . . This will be particularly useful as a curricular replacement for Bunting's now-outdated Fly Away Home.” — The Bulletin for the Center on Children's Books
"This is a poignant story of homelessness that is real to about 3 million people in the United States. The book includes lesson plan ideas that sensitively educate students about homelessness and offers them ways to be a part of a solution." — Teaching Tolerance Magazine
"... readers will find eye-opening both Gunning's well-chosen details and Pedlar's brooding, expressionistic art." — Horn Book Guide
“In this sympathetic depiction of homelessness, Zettie and her widowed mother, newly emigrated from Jamaica, are forced to live in their car while Mama looks for work and attends community college. The daily trials of homelessness are authentically portrayed, and Pedlar's warm, expressive illustrations mark the story.” — Book Links
"This picture book brings close the harsh realities of being homeless, scavenging for food, washing in the park restroom, being harassed by police. The illustrations are in an intensely emotional modernist style with exaggerated facial expressions and body language." — Booklist
"A touching story told from the perspective of Zettie, a little homeless girl who lives with her mother in their car. The strong mother/daughter relationship helps Zettie withstand the traumas of washing in the park's bathroom and being taunted by her classmates. The warm drawings reflect the strong emotions of the story. Appropriate for first grade through high school." — Rethinking Schools
